Land, Air & Water

Lately it seems that I have been very mobile and by diverse means of transport! NOw all I need is a rocket to the moon ;)

Nasca Lines or the Zoo
Visiting Peru it is kinda on everyone´s mind, to fly over the mysterious Nasca lines. I must admit it was hell: organization, services and in general all... it is indeed a huge hassle and a VERY expensive one and after doing it, even though in my head I kept saying "Once in a life time, once in a life time!", I sincerely think that it is cooler to relax in your chair and watch a documentary or two about them on TV.

Between the continous feeling of vomiting, the dizziness and the fear that your tiny plane will plunge head front into the desert, the round and round movement allows you to catch glimpses of the strange lines... a parrot, humming bird, spider, a cute astronaute, my favourite the monkey :) and many others. It does seem out of this world especially with the setting.... a desert of nothingness just brownish-redish dust and some peaks... However one thing that I liked and will remember out of the documentaries that we watched before getting on the plane was one of the scientists saying "Why acknowledge these mysterious lines to extra terrestrial beings, considering them superiour to our pre-decesors and not actually think that us as human beings, even if it was some time ago, were able to build such lines and have an inteligent reason for them?".

Y-HA! or Please please, do NOT kill me!
Decided to go visit the small town of Vilcabamba in the South of Ecuador. It is close to the Podocarpus National Park, which houses the pine tree with the same name, specific for this region. A horse ride seemed the most adventurous so I decided to take it... a full day nonetheless. As I have never rode a horse in my life before, I had no idea what was expected of me for the whole day, however after the first 10 minutes I started to regret I did not take the 2 hour beginners` tour.

The ride was amazing, and it was much more amazing to see how the horses climbed up on the sinous tiny muddy road! RESPECT! In their place I would have thrown my butt on the ground and leave. I thought that climbing is hard, but decending was even harder; really dangerous, but I made it... I mean I managed not to fall and slightly control the horse, and the horse managed to stand me and get me home unharmed :)

Ingapirca or the Ecuadorian Macchu Picchu
In case you are wondering what I am talking about... well it is real and does exist, it is just not as popular as the one in Peru! Ingapirca is a blend between two cultures: the Cañari and the Inka. The Cañari, who were venerating the Moon, were first to start leaving in the area and then the Inka, who´s main God figure was the Sun, came and convinced the Cañari to allow them to live there as well. For me it had this feeling of a hidden treasure, a secret that not the whole world is on and for that it is much more incredible. The sad part is that it is not very well maintained or guarded and the visitors really take advantage by climbing the walls and doing whatever they feel like...

Chu Chu Train in Alausi
The guide book says it is a must see in Ecuador... so, me as a good tourist I listen and go try it :) The famous train ride between Alausi and Sibambe through the Nariz del Diablo!
After waking up at an ungodly hour just to manage to get a ticket for the last ride of the day (all the rest of the tickets were sold mysteriously before the ticket booth opened) you need to wait for about 4-5 hours more for the ride. There is not much to do in Alausi as the town is as big as its front street; however one sight that it is worth all your attention are the locals. They all dress in traditional clothes and it is a rainbow of pleasure and excitement! I looked like a freakin´ stocker with my camera and huge smile! :)

To be totally honest the train ride had nothing of spectacular except the fact that: 1. I rode on top of the train with the wind and rain in my face! BoooooYA! 2. Hmmmm... what was the second thing?? :P

Tunnel of Death or "Most Stupid Things I Did" List
Baños is a very touristic spot but a good place to just chillax and enjoy being surrounded by people who have more travel stories than you do. It is famous for its crunchy toffee and amazing surroundings, which I both tested :)

I decided to do a bike ride throuth the Falls Route (Baños to Puyo) to see the breath taking Paivlon del Diablo Fall and just move some of the unused muscles. The scenery was indeed incredible and seeing the Paivlon del Diablo was a true experience... I got soaking wet climbing down the stairs to take a closer peak at the huge water fall, mud up to my years paasing through a natural tunnel to get underneath the fall and out of breath climbing back up to dry land!

Now the real story of this ride is the fact that as a biker you need to pass through 2 paralel tunnels; one on your way to the falls and one on your way back, and there is no way around them. Nothing interesting there except the fact that there is NO light in the tunnel... natural or artificial, so you are virtually riding into peach dark for about 2 minutes, re-converting to whatever your initial religion believes were and feeling your heart beating in your throwth so hard that you cannot concentrate to pedal. Meanwhile you hear a dumb sound behind you and a slight light approaching and you can just think of one thing: "I am too young to die!"

Here fishy, fishy, fishy... HERE fishy!
Whale watching and snorkeling is a must in Puerto Lopez and who am I to say no! Although I went whale watching in Canada before, I thought to give it one more try and the magic goal was to take a shot of a whale tale! And I did! There were soo many whales all in the same place, I was amazed... and soo close and big! It is a feeling that is hard to describe as it is almost like they are extraterrestrial just because they seem so out of this world, so untouchable so different from everythintg that you regularly see or experience! The sad part is that although they seem untouchable.... they are very fragile and even my whale watching trip contributed, I think, to some extent to their discomfort. I felt like we were harassing them... as soon as we spotted a whale every single boat (and I guess there were about 5) would put all their engines on and go meet the whales... It did not feel right but hopefully they did not mind it that much... or maybe they did as they did not jump for us :(

At the end we went snorkeling, another though try for me as I could not concentrate breathing only through my mouth... big and unknown body of water + me with fear of imaginary man-eating creatures in the water = this does not tell my brain: "Relax! Take it easy and just breath through the tube... it´s ok!" After a few tries I did manage and I am proud to say that the marine biologies in me observed: little fish and big fish with tones of colors and moves :)

Quito by Night at HIGH Speed
Ever since I got into Quito I have been pampered and taken care of just like a princess. I have been staying with an Ecuadorian family, Stefanie´s family and it really gave me a more indepth view of how Ecuadorians are, what they value and what they do day to day.
One of the highlights of the stay here was a crazy motorbike ride through Quito at night with Juan, Stefanie´s brother.

I sincerely (AGAIN) thought that I will die! From the adrenaline and the scare I was trembeling like a leaf but it was SWEEEEEET! High speed and just an amazingly quiet Quito in the night light. Besides the fact that it is a huge city, it looks even bigger during the night due to the thousands and thousands of lights all around. I got home with my hair looking like a fire bush, blue lips and a huge grin saying: WOW! CHEVERISSIMO! :)))

Over and still not out,
Miruna :o)

Those Incas Were Fit!

As the original Inka trail was booked until October, by those carefully planned travellers who know where they will be in 6 months... we took an alternative route which included bits and pieces of the original Inka trail, a day of hardcore mountain biking and 3 days of going up and down on narrow paths to reach Macchu Picchu.

The Ride of a Life Time

When I said "yes" to a one day bike downhill I had NO idea that it will like it was... We drove up until lunch on a very wavy road that played sadistic tricks on my stomach; after lunch we geared up and off we went... 5 hours of biking. First portion was OK, good road, just a tiny bit dangerous due to the speed that you would take no matter which part of the road you were on. And all of a sudden we got to this bumpy rocky dirt road and the FUN started... I thought I will swallow the handle bar; my butt has never felt so many rocks and bumps in its life! It was a rocky road concealed by dust and edged by banana plantations.
So let´s see if I can make you imagine for a second what it felt like: imagine that you are in a seated position and someone is hitting you over your lovely butt as hard as they can with a peace of wood that has random bumps; while this is happening you are trying desperately to hold onto the handle bar and someone is trying to take it away from you by jiggling it so that your upper part of the arm feels like its will loose the muscles because of serious moving. As this is not enough dust is everywhere when the killer trucks ride like mad next to you, monstrous little flies serve lunch on your legs and you try to figure out how to tell your fingers that they still need to squeeze down the breaks as otherwise all 10 of them are gone together with the rest of you!

The crazy part is that after a while I was on a mission... one of not falling off... not dying that day as there are plenty I want to do... I started grinning like an animal and full of adrenaline I was BETTER than the road... the dirt road was my enemy and my friend... it was a battle and I was going to win it! And I did 5 hours later when I promised myself NEVER AGAIN!

Merci pour allumer mon chemain...
We started walking on the 2nd day and we did not stop (except nights) until the tour was finished. I am telling you those Inca people were fit and healthy and they had this obsession of building small narrow wavy roads with a TONE of steps... I went up and up and up and then down and down again and then we went up again and it did not stop. The surroundings were breath taking though... despite the sun burning down on you and the little killer flies biting with zest! Tall mountains on all sides... and just one wish... to get to Macchu Picchu!

On the last day we woke up at 4:00am so to start the climb to Macchu Picchu; to be there among the first so to have the right to climb Waynapicchu, the tall mountain that you see in all posters next to Macchu Picchu; only 200 lucky tourists get to climb it each day...
So we were on a mission again. We climbed continuously for 1 hour; it was the most painfully stair climb of my life and sincerely I was screaming "Para!" in my head but in reality I did not want to give up... I had to climb one more and another one. Our guide was not human on those stairs, it seemed that he was strolling along... I do not know how he does it... practice I guess...
We got there in time and after wating to enter at Macchu Picchu, we waited again to enter for Waynapicchu.

Waynapicchu Mountain is this intense summit covered in plants and stairs; I climbed the stairs on 2 legs... 4 paws... just the last "100 meters" of the tour... this was it, I was about to see the place where Gods stood. We were the 1st two on the summit and it was quiet... only clouds around us nothing more. I felt exhausted and in a few minutes amazed as I saw Macchu Picchu from above. The city looked as if all its inhabitans were taking a 30 minute extra sleep before they get up for their daily duties... only the missing roof tops were giving the truth away...

We walked around Macchu Picchu like any tourist; took a tour with a certified guide and admired some of the "hidden" beauties. The only time that it actually hit me that I am at Macchu Pichhu... THE Inka City was when up on a small hill I managed to catch on camera the standard photo that you get for Macchu Picchu posters... I felt happy! :)

Miruna :o)

Bits and Pieces...

I have been quiet but more than busy ;)
After the Bolivian Salar we went to Sucre to recharge our batteries, continued to La Paz where we witness the Bolivian National Day, traveled to Copacabana on the edge of Lake Titicaca to see the island where the Inka legend got born, hopped on a bus to get to Peru where in Puno we visited the Floating Islands, got in a bit of trouble in Arequipa and finally got to Cusco to prepare for the 4 day trial trek to the Inka City. Here are some highlights:

Uyuni to Sucre or the Bus Ride from Hell
We got comfortable on our night bus to Sucre (comfortable is a sarcastic term in this case...) where due to the multitude of people on the bus, on both the seats and on the floor, we felt warm and able to catch some glimpses of sleep in between the horrific bumps on the road. At around 1:00am we arrived in Potosi where a rough voice yelled that all who want to get to Sucre need to get off NOW! We got off, confused, moved our backpacks in another bus and got on. In the next 2 minutes we realized that the only people who moved where all the tourists off the other bus... no word of explanation, nothing, just that this is the "more" direct bus to the destination and that we are leaving in 5 minutes... well 5 minutes Bolivian Time!

I was sincerely very scared and soooo cold and tired; I got even more scared when I noticed that the bus kept going round and round in circles without actually getting out of the city. After about 1 hour locals started boarding the bus so I stopped fearing that much but I was still tired and just wanted to get to the freakin´ destination. At around 4:00am we finally left after the bus was nicely packed again... I am telling you that I was already preparing to yell and bite.... was sooo happy to get off the damn bus and get a hold of my belongings!


Bolivian Highlights
I highly enjoyed Bolivia, although I felt more in the center of attention being considered more "white" and rich as I was a tourist; it got tiring to always be on my toes and wonder if things will function as promised but at least Bolivia doesn´t fool you ahead before your trip getting your expectations up; they are just where they should be and when you get to experience amazing things the experience is two times much more rewarding.

What struck me when I got to Bolivia was to see how many individuals (especially) women are wearing with pride the national costume (knee lenght or longer bufant skirt, little bowl hat that never tips no matter what they do, the improvised colorful "backpacks" and their long brades on their back). It was beautiful and surprising to see this! One thing that I did not enjoy seeing was the fact that women act as the "burden" carriers... men flander around with no worries and in the meanwhile women carry the baby + a few other bags...

We visited the Coca Museum; yes, that´s what I wrote! The Coca plant has an incredible history and meaning for the South Americans and although our "Gringo" minds can only think about the evil bi-products of this plant there is much more than just this...
There are 2 things that a new married couple needed/needs to build here: a house and start a coca field. The 1st traces of the coca leaves were found in mummuies dating since 2500-1800 BC. The plant grows in higher lands and when dried the locals use it as an energizer; it was scientifically proven that by chewing coca leaves, one can endure longer hours of harsh physical work and can help withstand hunger or thirst; the coca leaves are also part of rituals and their offerings to their Gods, which they still venerate in a mixture of old beliefs and Catholicism.
The Coca legend says that indigenous people need to take care of the Coca plant and it will help them to live through any pain or sorrow; it also says that for the "white conquistadors" it will mean only evil and sickness...

One other thing that surprised me in Bolivia and especially in La Paz were the minibuses.... there are A LOT and that is not all... people with their heads or entire bodies out of the speeding minibus yell from the top of their lungs the direction and price; there are NO rules of engagement on the street (or at least none that I could observe) and they ride as if the street is first theirs and then for the rest of hundreds just like them... stop in the middle, side, next, on and off the street and the interesting thing is that they do not know the word "full"; they stack people like corn in a barn!

The Uros People
Crossing into Peru we had one 1st destination: Las Islas Flotantes (The Floating Islands). These man made islands were build about 500 years ago by people determined to flee the high taxes and oppressions lurking around on mainland next to Lake Titicaca (not the highest navigable body of water in the world!). Currently there are about 1500 people living on the floating islands; anywhere from 5 to 10 families on one islands... not more and not less. The Uros used to live out of fishing and trading but nowadays the lake is not as kind as it used to be so their lives grow harder and harder. Tourism as well has started to show its evil face but at least it brings some extra soles.

It felt surreal riding the boat into the dense vegetation of the lake and all of a suddent discover douzens of islands with straw houses and dark skinned people seeing to their daily duties or waiving at the photo obssesed internationals. People seem to live a very simple life, with the bare minimum or even less but they do not seem upset or discouraged. I met a young man and his wife; she had a hand for sowing and decorating little squash pods; he was a proud owner of a rudimentary kitchen and a pack of dirt within which potatoes grew. It seemed incredible, out of this world, out of anything that I call real... it felt intrusive... I felt intrusive and priviledged in the same time...

Arequipa: a monestary for rich Spanish girls, Juantita & an encounter with petty crime
Although the city has a nice feeling to it ever since I got there I felt it is awfully touristic and that everyone is up to get you or scam you just because you are not from around.
Three things that really left an impression on me from here:
1. We visited the Santa Catalina Monestary, a citadel in the middle of the city, built in 1570 and only opened to the public in 1970. It was initially built to house the girls of rich Spanish or Spanish origin families, as the unwritten rule then was that at least one child of the family will embrace a religious path. The monestary is a real labyrinth and you can see the influences of time passing by. It seems that at the beginning the nuns were allowed to have servants, until they were restricted to having only one! Obviously policies changed with times and according to the administration and the regulations coming from Rome, but it was still interesting to see the "luxury"; I also saw different devices of "soul" purification, or better yet self torture, their small medical facility and several gardens and kitchens.
No matter how interesting the place seemed I kept thinking to myself that this is a nicely decorated prison.... hiding, keeping away or steeling something...

2. We visited a small university museum which holds a very precious treasure for the Andean people - Juanita or the Frozen Princess is a frozen girl found on the summit of the Ampato Vulcano. She was sacrificed by the Inka to please the mighty Vulcano God. There are other 3 children found on the same summit but they are not frozen but mummified.

3. In a small busy market in search for bunelos, my little ogre managed to get robbed; we were very lucky as we managed to put our hands on one older guy who took part in the theft. I never thought he will see his wallet again... but after staying in the police office for an hour and discussing world economics and salaries with the police agent, the cheif of the station came and handed the virtually untouched wallet. The old guy had made a call and the police send a few patrolls around and "miraculously" for us the wallet turned up! I was sooo happy to get out of Arequipa!

Cusco and its Cathedral
I visited the most amazing cathedral ever! It is comprised of 3 different buildings and is a vivid example of the fusion between the local indigenous belives and culture and the one of the invaders and the Catholic church. At every step you can see signs of how Catholicism had to adjust to local believes and also how local belives were molded into Christian practices. I saw a black Christ, who is considered now the protector of Cusco and protector against earthquakes; the famous Last Supper painting withits central caracter... a fried Guinea Pig (local and symbolic food here); mirrors which represent Inti, the Sun God and also posibility of seeing in ones soul in the Andean culture and wooden carvings of the potato flower which symbolizes fertility. Each Easter morning at 5:00am there is a mass in Quechua, the indiginuous language from here and although it is this early, it is the most popular of the year.
It is amazing to see how after soo many years and events people are still preserving with care a large deal of their old spirit and everything that goes with it. The last thing that I saw, which left me with a sweet-sour taste in my mouth... I saw the 1st cross ever brought to South America... Can you imagine the power, the symbolism and the pain behind it?

There is much more in between than just this so just make sure you get an afternoon free for a cup of coffee and more stories when you catch me next!
Pupici,
Miruna :o)

3 Day Jeep Adventure on Bolivian Land: High Altitude, Cold & Pure Beauty

As one salt desert was not enough, we decided to see another one and the wonders around it: Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia.

I must admit that the scenery on the Bolivian side were much more impressive, different from what I initially saw in Chile, but slightly more appealing. We crossed the boarder at a special tourist place where after paying the regular fees to cross into Bolivia, we got introduced to Luis our guide and Beatrice the cook for the trip. We got a red jeep which turned out not to be the best deal ever as something was wrong with it so on the 2rd and 3rd day we stopped several times not knowing if we will be able to continue the trip; however our guide/driver was very skilled and patient and he made it work.

The 1st day we saw 3 impressive lagoons: Laguna Verde (4300m alt) close to the Licancasur Volcano; Laguna Blanca and the world famous Laguna Colorada, a red lagoon which holds up to 20,000 flamingo birds during the summer... it is indeed something out of this world... simply beautiful and the more you look at it, the more you want to discover the spot with the most red! We also saw the Salvador Daali Rocks, which indeed resemble one of his paintings and we stopped at the Sol de Mañana Gysers to see their muddy bubbles and take a well deserved hot bath in the thermal pools :)

That night we spent at a very rudimentary hostel (4315m alt) just a couple kilometers away from the Laguna Colorada. Where we were told the temperature will drop to -27 degrees that night so obviously we slept with almost all our clothes under the many blankets and the rented sleeping bag. It was not that terrible however the slight symptoms of the altitude and the cold were very much present in the morning.

The second day the adventure continued with the Siloli Desert, a reddish desert punctuated in the horizon by volcano peaks and the Silola mountains which have layers over layers of beautiful colors. We stopped at 4400m alt to admire the Arbol de Piedra (Rock Tree) and continued to see the 4 Lagunas Altiplanicas: Honda (4115m alt), Chearcota (void of any life, the color is given by its bottom), Hedionda (it contains a special mineral that gives its white color) and Cañapa (large and inhabited by flamingos).

We passed El Paso del Inca and we took a glimpse at the active and smoky Ollague Volcano (5300 m alt). Speed crossed through the Salar de Chiguna to get to the Villa Martin, a hotel made out of blocks of salt, very welcoming and very much upgraded from what we had on the 1st night! The food was excellent as it was for the entire duration of the trip and we raised our glasses in celebration of one year of the hotel´s existence: ¡Salud!

Last day of the trip we woke up early early to catch the sun rise in the Salar de Uyuni (largest of its kind in the world!).... the Salar is painfully bright shining like glass or ice; as it was really cold again my brain kept thinking I am on a huge skating ring, although I was surrounded by kilometers of salt! We took photos, jumped around and took more funky photos (I wish I knew the type of crazy and creative things you can catch on camera in the salar...). We stopped for breakfast at the Isla del Pescador or Casa de los Maya, a huge rock smack in the salar covered with hundred of year old cacti. Up on top the view is breath taking!

We ended up stopping in a few touristic places: the old salt hotel, the place where salt is exploited, the train cemetery in Uyuni and a small town where we had lunch; very touristic and with people selling colorful clothes to anyone who would not categorize "from there". I was surprised to see how poorly people dress their kids no matter how big the pile of clothes for sale is... most of the young children are dirty and very little taken care of... from what I could see and grasp...

The trip ended in Uyuni where we managed to get a ticket to Sucre; the bus ride was hell and I will moke it soon; however one thing worth mentioning and which hunted me for the rest of the cold ride to Sucre was the fact that one of the Jeep of the other tourist company had an accident and 3 tourists and the driver were killed... It´s absolutely crazy and scary!

Anyway, hope you can take a glimpse at the photos on facebook so it can accompany your reading! Hugs,Miruna :o)

Muy Seco, Muy Alto y Muy Frio

So we crossed into Chile to go to San Pedro de Atacama, a very touristic destination for all who want to observe the wonders of the Salar de Atacama (3rd largest salt desert in the world) and the places around it. The bus ride was quite intense as we crossed the Andes and at one point we were at 5000 meters altitude... a bit of a head ache... a guy passing out in the back and aspirin for kids... it all went away!

San Pedro de Atacama (2438m alt) is a small 2000 inhabitants village considered the main center of the Atacamenan culture. During high tourism periods I sincerely believe that there are more tourists than locals; it is very simple with low houses made out of earth and sooooooooooo COLD! I have never felt so cold in my life! We stayed there for almost 3 days and I had to wear all of my clothes! The hostel in which we stayed was very very very cold and I almost fainted while taking a shower! On the shower door they ask you to keep your showers under 3 minutes for water sake as you are in the desert... but sincerely WHO CAN STAND A SHOWER FOR LONGER ANYWAY IN THAT COLD???? :)

While there we took 2 tours: Lagunas Altiplanicas and Salar de Atacama & El Tatio Gysers

Salar de Atacama looks interesting and less white during the summer; while I imagined it would be very flat, in fact it is quite rocky and made up of sponge like grey rocks/salt; we saw the Chaxa Lagoon, the home of 3 types of flamingo birds: Chilean, Andean and James... they are quite funny as they feed all day long so they stay with their heads in the water almost dancing around on their long legs to eat the "tasty" Artemia (Brine shrimp). We continued driving with the scenery of the vulcanos at the horizon; 5 active vulcanos which due to the altitude only puff some smoke and gas (Licanbur- 5900m alt and Lascar- 5592m alt).

It is amazing to see how humans make a life in these out of this world surroundings... desert, salt, cold, wind, vulcanos and high altitude... but impressive enough they do, although Mother Nature still reigns. The Jere Canyon is an oasis of green and hope for the Tocanao village.. virtually a huge crack in the ground where the earth is rich and people can grow fruits and vegetables. We stopped in Toconao for lunch and we had "carbonera", a very tasty soup made out of carrots, potatoes, sqash, pasta and some meat; I also tasted fried chicken with rice and quinoa (a local seed grown in these parts). YAMMY!

For El Tatio Gysers (highest altitude in the world) we had to wake up at 3:30am so to be ready to get the bus at 4:00am; this was not even the pain... the pain was that the temperature was crispy cold and although I dressed really warm it did not matter... my toes froze in less than 5 minutes walking outside among the smoky gysers. I did not find them that impressive. We stopped at the thermal baths so people could bathe; I only put my feet in the water and it felt good after 20 minutes when my feet stopped hurting. On the way back we stopped to eat fried lama meat (super tasty but hard) and cheese empanadas in a small Indigenous village.

Although we came back really tired after this whole morning affair we decided (as we were leaving the next morning) to rent bikes and go see the Valle de la Muerte (Death Valley) and Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley) approximately 40km there and back. I can tell you now that I know why they call it the Death Valley... it´s because it gets impossible to bike through the very rocky and sandy up and down road... I think there were a few "brave" tourists like us who did not make it hahahahah The scenery simply incredible... huge walls of brownish rocks, total silence and a blue sky punctuated just by the moon (here you can see the moon almost at any point during the day!). We stopped to look at the tourists doing sandboarding... we wanted to try too but we were to tired and still had a valley to tackle!

The Moon Valley was quite far and it took us for ever to get to the viewing point (el mirador); we raced time as we had to be at the mirador at around 5:00pm to catch the sun down and the out of this world red hills and mountains on the other side. We had to ride so many times up hill that I thought I will leave my poor legs there... but we finally made it in time! The view was beautiful but much less red/pink than postcards show... It took us for ever to get back to the village; we rode through pitch darkness at the light of our flashlights, millions of stars and the moon...

In a few words Chile was extremely confusing due to the many zeros of prices plus the constant feeling of cold didn`t help either; Chileans speak really fast but they are welcoming people. I am still amazed by the harshness of the land (I didn´t see that much of Chile but from what I saw), of how high the mountains/volcanos can be and how people make a living in a very simple but hard way.

This was Chile for me,
Miruna :o)

Rafting, Mate, Mountains and a Cactus "Forest"

¡Buenas tardes!

Man, I really love Salta and the places around it! It is an amazing amazing place and no matter how well I will try to explain how these past 2 days were for me most likely I will fall short in doing so...

Yesterday we decided to take a last minute rafting trip on the Juramento River somewhere in the South East of Salta; it took us about 2 hours to get there. The bunch that came with us was pretty funky too: 3 British and a German; all with good stories and a lot of traveling under their belts. Got there, geared up in these rubber clothes, we looked like Plastic Man but different colors and we got a short introduction into the rules and regulations of rafting from our instructor Frank... I must admit I kinda got scared from all that he warned us about... I guess it´s his job and he did it well so we are conscious of the risks. The instructor Frank was very cool; he is German and has been living in Argentina for the past 10 years... he came here to see the country, fell in love and ended up staying... never went back.. Another protagonist of the day was one black dog who likes to swim around the raft and follow the crazy tourists into the rapids... in more dangerous parts of the river it takes its place in the raft just like a human and enjoys being on the side with the most water! CRAZY dog!

The rapids were only level 3 so we had a bit of excitement and adrenaline but not like you see in movies when you are almost covered in water, your raft flips and you almost get killed by a rock... the rapids were fun though and we had our share of splashes and cold showers; one thing that I really enjoyed was the scenery and Frank´s tales... we saw mountains shaped like iguanas, a labrador and a shark; fosile shells and algae; mountains with levels of different colors just like a cake and 500 year old cactus... simply beautiful! After the whole affair we of course had asado (BBQ). I officially give the title to Argentionians for the most carnivour and BBQ loving people that I have known so far :)

On the next day we decided to take a tour to Cachi which is West of Salta to enjoy amazing scenery as we were told... well this is where I have trouble expressing what I saw and felt... the drive took quite a while but it did not matter as we stopped a lot to inspect the scenery and just breath in the beauty and the cold air; we crossed mountains covered with junga (I might not have the correct spelling) which is a special forest almost extinct in the world... there are just a few other places I belive in Bolivia; the special thing about this forest is that it holds about 50% of all the mammals in South America; also it has what they call a horizontal rain... there is sooo much humidity that when it tries to get out the leaves of the trees stop it and due to the condensation it starts raining. The dirt road is climbing the mountains and the Escoipe Gorge like a snake turning and twisting... we went up to about 3300 meters where its sunny but it´s cold; we saw Huanacos (wild Lamas), a condor next to the Cachi cemetery and we took an ancient Inca route (route 40 - the Tintin Straight) considered the longest of its type in the world; also it is very straight... so there are a lot of theories, including the fact that it might be a landing place for alliens!

Diego and Miguel were nice enough and they shared MATE with us!! Can you imagine??... it is said that you are very lucky if locals offer you to partake in the very traditional habit of drinking mate. You can drink mate hot or cold; the cold is called ´tererei´ and its made with orange/lemon juice and is drunk during the summer. The first drink is always had by the owner of the mate after which he/she offers it to the rest; it is considered rude to wipe the straw before drinking (the straw is metallic anyway and extremely hot so many of the germes die anyhow) and you do not refuse mate, but you can say ´¡Gracias!´ at any point and that means you do not get any next time...

We had lunch in this small but very pleasant goat farm/restaurant where we ate goat cheese prepared in special seads and also tried cold cuts, different other types of meat and pickeled onions, peppers, olives etc.

Two more stops... one in a forest of CACTUS!!!! Well I call it a forest... they call it a national park where these cacti are protected... as far as you could see tones of huge cacti... they grow about 1 cm/year and after the 1st 40 years they become hard and you get wood from them; this wood appearently is one of the most solid in the world and they say there are churces build with this wood dated back to the 1600s and they are still standing! Did you guys have any idea there is such a thing as cactus wood??? ;) Oh and the other funny part, when we stopped to see the cactus the guide told us... ¨Don´t die today!¨ refering to the fact that where the cactus grow is the natural habitat of the Black Widow Spider... YAYCKS!!!

Last stop: el mirador (a viewing place) from where you could enjoy the view of the highest peak in South America called El Libertador (6720m)! In the same place there is a big pile of rocks... like a shrine where shepperds come and say an incantation to Mother Earth to protect them before they head with their sheep in the mountains: Pachamama, Madre Tera, cucia, cucia!

All in all it was amazing... every turn, every glimpse was a great and magnificent photo!
I felt soo small between these giants and so fortunate that I can experience these in the flesh!

Next stop Chile, San Pedro de Atacama... another 12 hour bus ride!
Talk to you then!
Miruna :o)

Semi Cama... Cama... or being on the road in Argentina

Buenas Dias muchachos y muchachas!

As internet is scarce or rather time is better spend otherwise :) I decided to write another post about my last 2 adventures: Cordoba and Salta.

We left Buenos Aires on July 3rd with the bus heading for Cordoba. We got a semi cama bus which means that you are able to partially lie on the seat and try to sleep. We were lucky and got the top deck first seats at the front wide windows... quite impressive especially when the bus is doing slalom between the other crazy cars and you keep thinking that if it comes to an accident you are F****D! The bus was equipped with a red button and an annoying buzz and every time the driver would go over 90 km/hour it would start to go nuts... well the driver realy liked the sound so he kept pressing down the acceleration pedal... try to sleep then!

We got to Cordoba early in the morning and decided to tough it out and spend the day seeing the city and then hopping on the bus for the night so to get to Salta in the morning... however we had no idea that ALL Argentinians go to Salta during the weekend! We walked around from boletteria to boletteria for almost 2 hours to try to find any kind of seats for a bus that would get us to Salta... it was nerve racking; we kept getting the same answer over and over: we don´t have anything for tonight... only tomorrow night! We finally managed to find a seat in one bus and another one in a different one... while we got from one ticket booth to the other one got sold and I already bought my ticket... I wanted to kill someone! grrr... long story short we managed somehow... I don´t know how though.. and we ended up me in a bus leaving at 8pm and Nicolas in another leaving at 6pm... well 8 and 6 Argentinian time... hehehe

Cordoba was nothing impressive... I must admit I didn´t enjoy the city or the sights... we were quite surprized with the bad state of most of the buildings in the commercial area where the pedestrian walks are; towards the end we managed to get to a nicer area with wide streets, more vegetation and some better builings and monuments; we were sooo tired that we napped in a park in the delightful smell of dog poo and the great sun... I really enjoyed the Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes Emillio Caraffa!

Salta is a different story though... I remember waking up during the ride right before getting to Salta an just glimpsing out the window... I saw Salta waking up and surrounded by quiet thick fog! This city has a different feeling to it... more smiling people, tones of street vendors along the San Martin Avenue and nice climate. The hostel where we are staying is awesome (free breakfast, the people are very helpful, clean and nice atmosphere).

At first I had the impression that the street vendors are mostly for tourists... well I was wrong... each day and especilly night (it seems that Argentinians go to bed very late and like to socialize in the evenings) tones of people, more locals than tourists flood the little walk way and bargain, talk, laugh, buy and sell, sing and some dance! It´s really colorful! Mothers breast feeding their kids, loca artists displaying their craft, grandmas and mas selling yammy pasteries and fruit salads! ahhhhhh We tried the sousages and the crema de leche and strowbery pie!

We took the Teleferico up the small mountain to have a panoramic view of the city! The view is magnificent as the Andean mountains lie just next to the city. Atop the San Bernardo mountain they build a real oasis with lots of plants and a water fall, nice atmosphere ad pedestrian walks all around; the whole time I was wondering why they don´t think about doing something cool like this on Tampa in Brasov... We took the stairs down.. the long way but it was fun and HOT... we walked around downtown... we took photos of the fat trees (they look like they have a belly.. or a big butt), found a fallen orange (they have lots of orange trees all around the main plaza - Plaza San Martin) and we ate it... now I know how come no one touches them and they are safe in their trees... they are horrible! ;)

If in Buenos Aires was normal to see mobile street coffee and tea vendors, here the norm is fruits and avocado vendors... As we thought we haven´t had enough meat we decided to go to this BBQ organized by the other hostel in the area + to meet some other travelers. The food was good and the converastions were great.. people around here travel hardcore... months after months... leaving their jobs, studies and the army! Crazy business! We met some peeps from Israel, Scotland (an AIESECer), Australia, US...

For today, July 6th we went rafting on Juramento River and tomorrow we will see Cachi... but I guess this is another post. I am still working on uploading my photos on facebook so you guys can see what I see.. so hang in there ;)

Hugs from a soon to be vegetarian... seriosuly I haven´t had this much red meet in ages... and it´s taking its toll!
Miruna :o)

Bucharest, Argentina :)

You might be thinking that I totally lost any knowledge of geography or something... well hold that thought and let me explain first!

I have embarqued on my South American trip on June 30th in Montreal with my Nicolas; the trip was supposed to take us from Montreal to Toronto, from Toronto to Buenos Aires, Argentina... well it seems that people here do like surprizes... so we discovered while on board of the plane that we are actually going to Santiago, Chile and only after to Buenos Aires... so SURPRIZE! It took us exactely 24 hours from door to door! AYA!

Once at the airport we took a cab downtown where the hostel was... and I am telling you it was quite the ride! Argentinians drive like mad people, especially in the downtown area; all streets no matter how wide have at least two lanes and people race for their lives... bikes, motor bikes, cars, taxies, minibuses, autobuses and trucks! Noise everywhere, pedestriants trying not to get killed by crossing the street.. Man it´s INTENSE!

We stayed for 2 days and a half in Buenos Aires and ever since I first caught glimpse of the downtown and around neighbourhoods I thought to myself this looks amazingly like Bucharest, Romania...old and new buildings all around, some better mentained then others, crazy streets and traffic, block of flats with small or wide balconies... flower pots and plants... crazy tall trees and roots growing on the pedestrian walk! Some rather different things than Bucharest... MUCH MORE people... there are sooooo many people no matter the time of the day when you are walking or taking the bus or subway.. you are NEVER alone! The smell of dog poo is quite strong and it seems that a lot of people have dogs... therefore the ¨¨professional ¨¨ dog walkers with a dozen dogs at once walking around and trying to manage the little beats is a rgular sight :)

Buenos Aires is a big city with very contrasting areas; we saw a good deal of neighbourhoods, both the more turistic as well as the less; there are tones of cute little pastery shops with mostly sweet goodies; people here love something called ¨dulce de leche¨- a sort of caramel spread, also shops with empanadas, tortas etc. In terms of food they are not very creativ, most of the places serve empanadas, tortas, panchos y panchitos (hot dogs), pizza, pasta and of course parilla (meaty BBQ). There is a strong italian influence from what I could gather. To top everything off we went for the famous parilla in a very elegant and fancy parillada with two other friends - Irene and Trisan. One huge steak and 5 pieces of ribs, a lot of small side salads and dips and papas (potatoes) with onions fed all 4 of us! One of the best meals ever served in an awesome ambiance... just perfect!

As tourists do, we had our share of expensive bills and tricks for foreigners... however we forgot about them and just enjoyed the ride. We went to a neighbourhood called La Boca where the famous Caminito presents on both sides of the street local artist works; we also stopped to sip some coffee and watch a live Tango Show; we also saw the slums of Buenos Aires and some pretty rough areas... I am telling you it´s not a prety sight... we walked for hours in the Recoleta Cimitery to find Evita Peron´s toom, took photos with the giant metal flower and had a frappe at Havanna, what we think as being an Argentinian Tim Hortons ;)

Other facts: I saw plants that I used to think grow only in pots... huge as decorative plants in the streets; they have a third knob for the shower, right in the middle (it´s yellow); Argentinians eat A LOT of meat! public toiletts and TP are a commodity, there is a McDonals almost at every corner; stores have winter cloths in the window and snow flakes spread around (it´s cold but not that cold...heheh), there are a lot of street vendors; children bagging; in general people are very nice with foreigners and have the patient to answer most of your questions in broken Spanish!

Next stop is Cordoba for a day and after that Salta where we will linger for a couple of days. We will bus it over night for both so should be interesting...

Hasta luego,
Miruna :o)

Bye Bye Miss Canadian Maple Syrup Pie...

As some of you might know I have "finally" managed to wrap up my Canada chapter after about 1 year and 9 months (although I initially came for 3 months & a half and only one job, I ended up staying this long and have 3 different jobs...). It´s been though, fun, challenging, hard, easy, important, amazing and most important filled with life long learnings. I have so much to tell about this experience and by being in Canada for so long I feel I haven´t had a chance to debrief after each and every single stage... how do you answer "How was it?" when IT took almost 2 years? ...

As next step, to take advantage of my geographic position I decided to take a break, mostly from deciding what I want/have to do next, and practice what I love the most: TRAVEL! This time I chose South... South America: Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador! Below is the beginning... much more to come! Desfrutan! :o)